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1909a 
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Address of 

Baron Kogoro Takahira 

On the Life and Works of the late 

Dr. Joe Neesima 

At the Unveiling of his Portrait at Amherst College 
Amherst, Mass. May 7, 1909 



With the author's compliments. 






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ADDRESS OF 



Baron Kogoro Takahira 



ON THE LIFE AND WORKS OF THE LATE 

DR. JOE NEESIMA 

AT THE UNVEILING OF HIS PORTRAIT AT AM- 
HERST COLLEGE, AMHERST, MASS., 
MAY 7, 1909. 



Washington, D. C, 
Globe Printing Co. 
1909. 



K 



GIFT 

MRS. WOODROW WILSQf* 

«GV. 25, 1939 



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Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen: 

Forty years ago in 1870, shortly after my arrival in 
Tokio from my provincial home in search of a better 
method for my education, one of my schoolmates, who 
came from a small castle town called Annaka in the 
Province of Kodzuke, told me that in the University 
which then existed in our capital there was a student 
from his town whose brother was in America in pur- 
suit of a Western education. 

One day I visited the young man in company with 
my schoolmate and found in him a gentle, intelligent 
youth of about twenty-three or twenty-four years of 
age. This young men died shortly after I met him, but 
on account of my acquaintance with him my interest 
was particularly aroused and constantly kept up in 
the life of his brother — Joe Neesima — and his works 
for the education of our countrymen, which made him 
one of the foremost educators of the time in Japan. 

In view of this circumstance I consider it a singular 
incident that forty years after I met his brother, the lot 
should have fallen to me to witness the unveiling of a 
portrait of the very person in whom I had been so much 
interested on the very spot where he received his educa- 
tion in order to prepare himself for his life.-giving works 
on the moral advancement of our countrymen. Nothing- 
can excel the honor I feel as the representative of 
Japan to see one of my compatriots so worthily recog- 
nized by the institution of his learning in this center 
of modern civilization. 

I confess, however, I am not equal to the task I am 
called upon to fulfill, owing to my services requiring me 



to live abroad most of the time, and consequently de- 
priving ine of the opportunity to make personal ac- 
quaintance of that interesting career of which I have 
now to speak. My address will, therefore, be based 
upon the information mainly obtained from his biog- 
raphies and anecdotes written by his Japanese friends 
and pupils, and naturally will be devoid of my own 
views, which I have no right to give under the circum- 
stances, regarding his life and character. This city 
is the field of his collegiate life and must have a num- 
ber of his friends among its citizens. Moreover, 
Neesima's Life and Letters by Mr. Arthur Sherburne 
Hardy gives an exhaustive account of the man and his 
works. I do not feel I can add much to the information 
already in your hands. Before an audience so friendly 
and sympathetic as this such an apology may be con- 
sidered to be out of place, but I venture to hope that 
the Japanese view of his life may not be entirely with- 
out interest to you. 

The life of Joe Neesima was, from his birth to his 
death, I should say, typically Japanese, only broadened 
in his views and aspirations as a result of his American 
education. There is no environment, I am inclined to 
think, anywhere else than Japan which could produce 
such a character. There is no environment, I dare say, 
anywhere else than America which could help in de- 
veloping such a character. He was born into that way 
of life which is called the Samurai class and which is 
considered to have constituted in former times the back- 
bone of the whole nation of Japan. Born in the medium 
position of that class he was neither rich nor poor — 
judged from the Japanese method of life at that time; — 
neither proud nor humble. He knew no poverty to 
deprive him of a self-respecting spirit; no luxury to 



enervate mind or body. Brought up under a rule of 
the strict code of life called Bushido, he was perfectly 
honest and earnest in his purpose. Taught in Japanese 
literature and Chinese classics from his early boyhood 
and then trained in sword exercises and horsemanship, 
he showed a marked aptitude for his position, and when 
only fourteen years old he was selected from among the 
children of his clansmen as one of the three specially 
chosen to study the Dutch language. At sixteen he 
was made a sort of amanuensis of his lord. It was 
about this time that he read for the first time the 
Chinese translation of a history of the United States, 
which aroused his particular interest in the study of 
modern civilization and led him to pay for that reason 
more serious attention to his lessons in the Dutch 
language. The conservative idea prevailing at the time 
among the members of his own family as well as his 
friends was so intense that not only did they express 
displeasure with his action but threw on him every pos- 
sible derision and criticism. He was, however, inflex- 
ible in his determination and continued with renewed 
efforts to study what he could then learn in the Dutch 
language, such as natural philosophy, mathematics, etc. 
One day he happened to see a Dutch man-of-war lying 
in the Bay of Yedo (now Tokio), whose dignified com- 
posure beside a number of junks of slight structure 
tossing about on the rough sea appeared to him simply 
wonderful and most decidedly unassailable, and he soon 
perceived that the talent of a people who could build 
ships of such grandeur must be much superior to that 
of his own countrymen. The magnificent aspect of the 
man-of-war also brought upon him all sorts of irre- 
sistible imaginings as to the progress attained by the 
Western nations and led him to fancy that, in order 



6 

to improve the conditions of his country, he should 
himself play the role of an advance guard of the West- 
ward march of civilization. He also conceived an idea 
as to the importance of the construction of the navy 
and the encouragement of commerce, and, as a step in 
that 3irec:ion, he decided to study navigation, and 
took lessons in algebra, trigonometry, geometry and 
several other things preparatory to that end. While 
seeking knowledge in Western methods in such way, he 
found, among other publications, those of Christian 
teachings most attractive, especially a volume of the 
Chinese translation of the Holy Bible. He borrowed 
xhe book from a friend of his and secretly read it in the 
depth of night in order to avoid the punishment that 
misht be inflicted for such an act, as it was against 
the laAv of the country at that time. He was, however, 
well repaid for such adventures because he was en- 
abled thereby to dispel a large amount of doubt hitherto 
entertained about Christianity and to appreciate more 
c J early the fundamental principles of the doctrine. He 
still found his doubts now and then growing as his 
study advanced, and in order to have them fully ex- 
plained, he thought the only way would be to visit the 
land where there is a complete freedom of faith and to 
learn it directly from a competent teacher. He finally 
made up his mind to leave his country in search of the 
truth. 

While he was considering how to go abroad he hap- 
pened to hear of the approaching departure of a certain 
steamer for Hakodate, a port open to foreign commerce 
in the north of Japan. He obtained the consent of 
his lord and his own family, and took passage in that 
vessel to that port. This was in 1864 when he was 
twenty-one years of age. After much effort he arranged 



to obtain passage in an American vessel bonnd for 
Shanghai, China. At that time an attempt to go abroad 
without permission of the Government was treated as 
a most grave offense and punished with death, so it 
was a bold act for Neesima to run such a risk and to 
leave his country. He had a Japanese clerk of some 
foreign firm at Hakodate disguise as an official, and he 
himself attired like his servant, and both boarded the 
vessel on a dark night. Upon arrival at Shanghai, 
through the friendly effort of Captain Sappori, of the 
American ship which he took from Hakodate, he was 
helped to join another American vessel — the "Wild 
Rover" — bound for Boston, on condition that he would 
pay his passage by his labor, and arrived there after 
more than a year's voyage. Captain Taylor, of the 
"Wild Rover," fully convinced of Neesima's character 
and aspiration taught him English and navigation dur- 
ing his voyage, and told his employer, Mr. Alpheus 
Hardy, all that he saw of the young man, at the same 
time recommending him to give him every facility for 
his studies. I might speak of what Neesima did here 
at Amherst, Boston and Andover, all through the gen- 
erous aid of Mr. and Mrs. Hardy given to the young 
man to help attain his purpose to work for the noble 
cause of human welfare and civilization, and to have 
the benefit to be derived therefrom extended to the peo- 
ple of the Far East, but all that was done here by 
Neesima must be more familiar to you, and I do not 
think I have anything to add to your knowledge. Suf- 
fice it to say that generosity, sincerity and truthful- 
ness shown to a young stranger by the people of Massa- 
chusetts was profoundly appreciated by Neesima and 
his countrymen as the best proof of the large heart and 
broad mind peculiar to the American character. 



8 

Therefore, on his return to Japan, which took place 
in 1874, Neesima was determined to devote all his 
efforts for the promotion of the cause for which he 
was so sympathetically and substantially aided by his 
American friends. As the first step he converted all 
the members of his family to the Christian faith, and 
then began to preach the doctrine among his towns- 
folk during the months he spent at his provincial home 
— Annaka — in spite of the popular sentiment which was 
still largely against Christianity. He planned, how- 
ever, from the outset to select some large city as the 
headquarters for his work, and intended to establish 
it at Osaka, but when he applied for the approval of 
the city authorities for his undertaking he received 
their consent only to the establishment of a school, but 
not to the employment of Christian missionaries. He 
then went to Kioto and, under the strong support of one — 
Kakuma Yamamoto — who was influential with the city 
authorities of that ancient capital as their adviser, and 
who subsequently became his brother-in-law, he suc- 
ceeded in securing their approval of his whole under- 
taking, though not without much difficulty, because 
Kioto had been the center of the authorities for the 
Buddhist religion for many centuries and never before 
had Christian missionaries been allowed to reside there, 
much less to preach in a school in the city. He then 
went on to establish his school with the co-operation 
of his American and Japanese friends, and worked with 
them with incessant activity so that in a comparatively 
few years his well aimed purpose became recognized 
and appreciated by the people of Kioto, and he re- 
ceived from the local authorities the freedom of holding 
religious meetings in public, and was consulted by them 
frequently as to his views on the questions of education. 



9 

In 1881 when he held a public meeting for an evangelis- 
tic purpose at a theatre of that city he had a very large 
audience of five thousand men and women who listened 
in silence to the addresses delivered by twenty speak- 
ers. It was in deed a scene that could never be ex- 
pected before, especially when all sorts of threats made 
on the works of the Christian propaganda only a few 
years ago are taken into consideration. Greatly en- 
couraged by the success thus attained he conceived the 
idea of expanding his plan of education on the basis of 
a university, but the strain to which he had been sub- 
jected for many years had seriously impaired his health, 
so he started on a visit to Europe and America in 1884 
in the hope that his trip abroad might help him to re- 
cover his strength. On his return to Japan next year 
he renewed his efforts, and with indefatigable industry 
he succeeded at last to extend the Doshisha and to place 
the institution fairly on the way to the desired basis 
with a preparatory department, collegiate department, 
theological department, girls' school, nurses' school, 
library, etc. But his physical strength was not equal 
to his mental activity and, after exhausting all that is 
necessary for life because of zeal and labor to promote 
the cause for which he was born and brought up, he died 
in 1890. Such was a general outline of Neesima's life 
and his work. 

Now, to go back to his boyhood life and give you 
some idea of his home education. He was born a son 
of the Samurai. The blood he inherited was descended 
in a line from his forefathers of recognized merit and 
made him conscious of the dignified position and that he 
was of a privileged domain. He had this great advan- 
tage of birth, which constituted an important factor in 
building up his character. In addition to this condi* 



10 

tion he had excellent home training, which is put down 
in his notes as follows : 

"My grandfather paid special attention to my educa- 
tion. Every evening he put me on his lap and told for 
me instructive stories about ancient heroes, great per- 
sonages, wise men, etc., and above all, he was particu- 
larly attentive in instructing me to be obedient to pa- 
rents and faithful to friends and at the same time to 
be careful in speaking, modest in act, and not to steal 
nor to deceive and flatter." 

He also says in his book that in his boyhood it was 
his habit to visit different temples quite frequently and 
to offer prayers in order to make him a worthy soldier 
or samurai, that he be helped to accumulate sufficient 
knowledge and experience. He also says that once when 
his grandfather heard of his disobedience to his mother, 
the old man caught the boy and rolled him up in a night 
coverlet and shut him up in a closet. After an hour's 
confinement the grandfather came and released him 
from punishment, and gently told him a story of the 
bamboo shoot in a most tender and affectionate manner 
by referring to the poem, which runs thus : 

"It is not in hatred that we beat 
The bamboo shoot that is covered with snow." 

All this shows the kind of home training he received. 

In 1853 the first gun was fired by Commodore Perry 
on the Bay of Uraga and awakened the slumbering 
nation and drove away the dark clouds whi<h were 
thickening over the country. Lord Itakura, a prince of 
Annaka, kept himself aloof in the midst of the alarmed 
people. He was well educated and held a clear view 
of the situation. Prior to the arrival of the American 
fleet he had already suggested the reformation of the 



11 

military organization and encouraged his clansmen to 
use every endeavor for intellectual and physical develop- 
ment. Neesima was brought up under the influence of 
his progressive ideas and specially selected for Dutch 
learning and military training. There was no wonder 
that he became ambitious. When he was grown old 
enough to understand the situation of his country he 
felt extremely anxious with the disturbed condition 
of the time, and as a result of the suggestion brought 
forth by his patriotic anxiety to meet the circumstances, 
he decided to visit the new world in search of what- 
ever advantages he might find there in order to adopt 
them for the improvement of his own country. He then 
left Japan in pursuit of modern education, regardless 
of the extreme means to which he had to submit himself. 
He had no exact idea about his own future but to rely 
upon the mercy of a Higher Power. Such action cannot 
be expected of anyone but a man of patriotic conviction 
fully prepared to give himself up for the love of his 
country and his people. It is thought certain among 
his pupils that it was the Bushido spirit that led him to 
such determined action. 

There is one feature which is noticeable on every side 
of his character and may be also considered to have 
originated with the Bushido spirit — the spirit of self- 
respect and self-control. His conduct in his youth 
points out peculiarly to a confirmation of that asser- 
tion. For instance, he was determined to satisfy his 
sense of honor by appealing to his sword when he felt 
insulted on account of a certain action on the part of 
the Captain of the Berlin in which he left Japan, and it 
was only through his reflection upon his mission, which 
was more important than his own sense of honor, that 
he withheld such precipitate action. He frankly ad- 



12 

nutted his own fanlt when he dropped into the sea a 
certain utensil of the Captain of the "Wild Kover" and 
threw out all his money to recompense it. He sold 
his sword, which was a guardian of the honor and the 
person of a samurai, when he wanted money to buy a 
translation of the Holy Bible. He accepted only such 
amount as was actually required for his education when 
Mr. Hardy so generously supplied him with whatever 
was required for the purpose. All such characteristics 
were constantly shown in his words and action when 
he was leading a more independent life after his return 
to Japan. He must have been a man of single purpose 
and clear conscience. 

Righteousness, chivalrousness, probity, patience, 
modesty and self-respect were the common standard of 
Japanese characteristics of the Samurai class about the 
time of the Restoration. Neesima had been brought 
up in the midst of such class of people and had his 
character built up in the mold prevailing among that 
class before he left for America, but his American life 
had the effect of modifying it by the influence of the 
American spirit based upon free worship and self- 
government. In other words, his Bushido, which was 
the doctrine of Japanese origin, grew to be the doc- 
trine of worldly character, and what had been the doc- 
trine of the moral nature as he had originally believed 
was changed to that of a religious quality. In conse- 
quence, he claimed for himself democratic treatment as 
an independent gentleman in the free country when he 
was presented to Ambassador Iwakura and members of 
his suite during their sojourn at Washington, and he 
flatly refused to come forward to their presence and 
salute them in the Japanese fashion. Moreover, when 
he heard of the intention of the Japanese legation to 



pay all of his expenses supplied by Mr. Hardy he is 
said to have written to his friend expressing his hope 
that Mr. Hardy would not accept it because of his de- 
sire for freedom from all obligation to the Japanese 
government and to enable himself to serve a Higher 
Power as a Japanese citizen. This goes to show that 
free-worship and self-government were precepts he 
determined to follow throughout his life. 

What is to be done in order to regenerate and de- 
velop Japan? Such was what Neesima was constantly 
thinking about in America. He saw that the real cause 
of the growth of America was in the elevation of the 
national spirit, and the cause of the elevation of the 
national spirit was in the infusion of the Christan 
principles throughout the whole nation. Fervent patriot 
that he was, Neesima, turned an ardent Christian be- 
liever and exponent of the Christianized Bushido. He 
was not an ordinary missionary, nor was he a mere 
educator. His belief was in a Christianized Bushido, 
which was, as some of his pupils say, a doctrine inter- 
Avoven with patriotism as the warp and religious faith 
as the woof. But what Neesima himself says in his 
notes is as follows: 

" Japanese people are generally hero worshippers, but 
they are greatly lacking in the conception of their own 
independence. None of those who apparently conceive 
their own independence, can entertain any higher de- 
sire than their own heroes, but there have been no heroes 
in Japan who devoted their entire efforts to anything 
beyond their selfish object. If their mind were elevated 
and directed to the Hero of Heroes the nation would 
have a higher standard of life. Such Hero stands much 
above Socrates and Confucius. He was the friend of 
the poor. Alexander and Napoleon are by no means to 
be compared with Him who shed His own blood for the 



14 

people, but never had an idea of shedding the blood of 
the people for His sake. Should any of my countrymen 
desire to be hero worshippers I wish they would worship 
the Hero of Heroes. When will come the time when the 
eyes of our nation will be focussed to such a true Hero? 
I am longing for it." 

Such was the conception he had in regard to the 
hero he would have his countrymen worship, and un- 
doubtedly he must have meant a divine power exhibited 
in the life of Christ. He said, however, to his pupils 
just the day before his death, as follows: 

"1. The works of the Doshisha will consist hereafter 
of the three inseparable ideals ; that is, the moral educa- 
tion based upon the Christian religion, literary and po- 
litical development of the nation and scientific progress 
of the people. 

"2. The object of the Doshisha will be in the teach- 
ing of theology, politics, literature, science, etc. Never- 
theless, every endeavor should be used in the making of 
men who will be possessed of the energetic spirit and 
active force to be devoted to their country and who 
will love true liberty. 

"3. The members of the Doshisha will treat the stu- 
dents with appropriate courtesy and consideration. 

"4. The students of a free and independent disposi- 
tion shall not be restrained in their acts but guided in 
conformity with their original nature to the end that 
their character be fully developed. 

"5. With the growth of the institution there is a 
tendency of its turning into a machine. Serious care 
should be taken to guard against this." 

iA'S you may have seen, the main feature of his idea 
is in the second paragraph of his last statement, and he 
was particular in giving stress to what useful men are 
to be made for — that is for the service of the country 



15 

of their birth, and he made it known clearly that tili 
the last moment he had been exerting soul and body 
for the sake of his country. He fully recognized the 
very great difficulties in carrying out his aim or in 
arriving at a certain point of the goal. In answer to a 
queston as to how many years he expected to complete 
his w r orks on the Doshisha, Neesima told a friend of his 
that his was a divine work and would require at least 
two hundred vears. He also told another friend that 
the rise and progress of a nation can only be expected 
to be attained by the continual and successive efforts 
by a number of extraordinary men who would come 
and go for the period of several generations. It is evi- 
dent that Neesima did not expect himself to complete 
the work in his lifetime, but he used every possible 
effort in his power to further its progress and ex- 
hausted all his means, even his life, which was thereby 
shortened. 

Iichiro Tokutomi, one of the most prominent of Nee 
sima's pupils, who is now the proprietor and editor of 
the "Kokumin Shinibun" of Tokio, wrote me the other 
day when, at my request he forwarded a number of 
booklets on the life of his teacher, that he had studied 
under his tutorship for several years; that his cardinal 
object of eduction was in applying the Christian teach- 
ings on the groundwork of the Bushido training, and 
he still believes that Dr. Neesima was a baptized Shorn 
Yoshida. Now let me tell you who Shoin Yoshida was. 
Any one who has ever read Commodore Perry's "Japan 
Expedition" may be informed that two young Japanese 
gentlemen came on board the Commodore's flagship 
about two o'clock A. M., on April 25, 1854, in the 
harbor of Shimoda, and expressed their desire to be 
taken to the United States, but the Commodore was 
compelled to refuse them until they received permis- 



16 

sion from their government. One of them, who then 
appeared nnder the assumed name of Kwansuchi Manji, 
as recorded in the official report, was the very man just 
referred to — Shoin Yoshida. He was a conspicuous fig- 
are in the recent history of Japan. Because of his at- 
tempt to come to the United States and to study West- 
ern life and methods he was arrested and put into the 
custody of his lord, the Prince of Choshu. It was while 
he was thus placed under the surveillance of his lord 
that he established a school and made a number of 
converts to his patriotic theory, among whom there 
were many who became prominent men in the official 
and military life Of the present day, including Prince 
Jto, the foremost statesman of Japan, who is perhaps 
better known in the Western countries as the framer of 
the Japanese constitution. The most remarkable 
feature of his work was in his success in making ail 
these patriotic converts in the short time of the two 
years of his confinement. Yoshida, however, never 
ceased to be hostile to the Shogun's Government and in 
his zeal to restore the Emperor to power he made several 
attempts antagonistic to the Shogunate, and was finally 
beheaded to die a martyr's death at thirty years of 
age. He was a man of strong will and force of char- 
acter. He did not live to see his patriotic aims carried 
out, but left his followers behind to work out his idea. 
This is the man with whom, had he been baptized, some 
of Neesima's pupils, would compare their beloved 
teacher. It is no small tribute from the Japanese point 
of view. 

Eeviewing his life and character in this way accord- 
ing to the statement of his friends and pupils who were 
very close to him it is indisputably clear and definite 
that he was a Christian in his belef and patriotic in his 
ideal. It is no wonder that on his death all who knew 



17 

him, whether in official life or in private calling, even 
Buddhist priests who were once seriously opposed to his 
works joined in mourning him with the sincere feeling 
of respect and loss. There is one thing more I desire to 
add in conclusion, that while he encountered so much 
opposition and difficulty in his undertakings he had 
reason to console himself. He had not only succeeded 
in placing the Doshisha fairly on the basis of a univer- 
sity but lived long enough to see the promulgation of 
the constitution of the Japanese Empire, which took 
place in 1889, one year before his death, and in which 
it is solemnly provided that Japanese subjects shall, 
within limits not prejudicial to peace and order and 
not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy free- 
dom of religious belief. He did not live to enjoy the 
benefit of the constitutional provision to the fullest ex- 
tent, but I venture to hope that everyone who sympa- 
thized with him can well afford to congratulate him for 
the wisdom exercised by His Majesty the Emperor 
in this respect and to feel reassured in helping to con- 
tinue the noble work which he initiated but left before 
fully completing. 

It may also be of some interest to you to know that, 
as I heard a few days ago from one of my compatriots 
who is now travelling in this country, it is entirely a re- 
sult of Neesima's efforts that the higher class of Jap- 
anese people became interested in the doctrine of Chris- 
tian teachings, and that the Congregational Church, 
which is one of the most influential denominations 
among Japanese believers, has a number of Neesima's 
followers among its prominent leaders. The time may 
jet come when we shall see a Christianized Bushido 
spread its branches over the different parts of the 
Emperor's dominions and throughout the different sec- 
tions of His Majesty's loyal subjects. 



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